Where Does Back Pain Come From?

There are myriad causes of back pain, falling under several general rubrics, or headings.  Some back pain is temporary, some intermittent and some chronic.  One thing’s for certain, though – none of it is pleasant!

Back pain is a complex area that demands incisive diagnostic tools to pinpoint its underlying causes, allowing medical practitioners to prescribe therapeutic responses.  Here, we’ll provide some general answers to the question “Where does back pain come from?”.

While we can’t diagnose you over the internet (and we advise against self-diagnosis), it’s always helpful to have some general information.

Life can be a pain in the… back.

As we’re reproducing the needs of daily life, what we do to get there can impact the health of our back, leading to pain.  Some of the causes of back pain from lifestyle factors originate in the workplace.

Lifting heavy objects improperly is one leading cause that can be easily avoided.  Another is bad posture while seated.  Slouching and other factors (chair height, keyboard and computer screen position, for example) can contribute to back pain.

Other key lifestyle factors include a lack of activity (leading to weakened core muscles which support your back) and being overweight.  Women who wear high heels regularly can also suffer from back pain.

While we’re on the subject of lifestyle, it would be remiss not to mention stress.  People don’t give stress credit for its ability to impact physical wellbeing.  They should.  Stress can lead to a wide variety of physical symptoms, including back pain.

Spinal Anomalies

When making key lifestyle changes doesn’t improve your back pain, it’s time to start thinking about underlying causes which may be more serious.  You may have dysfunction in the spine which requires treatment.  “Where does back pain come from?”  One of these culprits may be at the root of it:

Herniated disc:  As you get older, your disks may experience herniation.  This condition causes the gel-like substance inside the disks to be forced outside the hard case they’re encapsulated in, causing pain.

Bulging disc:  Similar to the herniated disc, but not as severe, this condition can be present without causing pain.  But when the nerves become implicated, the pain begins.

Degenerative disc disease:  When your spinal disc health declines (as it often does with age), the material between your vertebrae can tear or shrink, allowing the vertebrae to rub against one another.

Spinal stenosis:  This condition represents a narrowing of the spinal canal which exerts pressure on nerves.  The result is numbness in the shoulders and legs.

As we said at the beginning of this post, back pain can come from numerous causes, including injury, but the two areas outlined here cover some of the most common causes of back pain.

Lifestyle and anomalies of the spine are horses of two different colors, as you can see.  Simple changes in the way you work and generally live may be all that’s required to deal with back pain.  Sometimes, though, diagnostics can reveal an underlying problem.  Contact us to find out more.